Letters to the Editor - 11/04/2013

Editor: The proposed gymnasium expansion at West Scranton High School ("Cost for new gym unveiled," Oct. 29) is a good opportunity for Scranton taxpayers to witness what poor governance looks like in action. This project is a very low-priority issue because not one dollar of this proposed spending would go toward improving student achievement outcomes.

The school district has a history of misplaced priority spending. A recent example of poor priority spending is the 13 decorative lampposts the district crammed in around the administration building last year. I researched and discovered that only five of the 13 lampposts the district installed were actually needed to adequately illuminate the 375 linear feet of frontal property around the administration building. Spending like that constitutes waste.

Moreover, the state has placed a moratorium on the amount of financial help it gives districts each year for new construction projects. As a result, the waiting list for reimbursement is years long. Our directors should know this. And if they approve this proposal it means the taxpayers will have to carry the full load for this low-priority construction well into the future.

The highest-priority spending issue now is addressing the overcrowded conditions at the schools affected by the closing of Audubon School. The $7.9 million we have in the capital improvement kitty should go toward building a new school at the district's newly acquired site near Nay Aug Park to correct our overcrowding problem.

The logical solution to the West Scranton HS gym problem would be to hold games at Scranton High School until things change in Harrisburg. West and Scranton already share facilities for football. Tech, Central and Prep shared the CYC for decades and there was little parking available.

This decision is a no-brainer.

JAMES DOUGHER JR.

SCRANTON

Order in the House

Editor: Over two centuries our country has developed a fairly well-established legislative process. Laws are proposed, debated, frequently changed before passage by Congress, signed by the president and checked for their constitutionality by the various courts.

At times, unintended consequences or other problems make it necessary to change or repeal laws. Some of FDR's New Deal acts were ruled unconstitutional, some just didn't work and laws were adjusted or scrapped. The 18th Amendment (prohibition of alcohol) was repealed by the 21st.

Legislators won some, they lost some, and then they moved on. Liberals recently wanted gun laws that included universal background checks, could not muster the votes and moved on. Conservatives could not muster the votes to thwart the ACA, but they did not move on.

What would have been the consequences for the nation if President Obama had caved to the demands of Ted Cruz and company?

I suggest that the orderly process I described above for passing laws (proposal, debate, compromise, etc.) would go right out the window. Lawmakers could dispense with all traditional and established precedents; they no longer would need to worry if their side won or lost.

If they dislike a law that had been passed, or if they fail to get a law they favored through Congress, all they would have to do is wait for an essential piece of legislation, such as an appropriations bill for the military or for infrastructure or emergency spending, and hold it up until they get their way. Shut down the government, refuse to pay the nation's bills, until this or that law is either repealed or passed, delayed, significantly changed, or until they get their way. Who needs democracy?

Gone would be the need to legislate or to compromise; hello government by extortion.

Thank you, Mr. President, for standing up for us.

NORBERT MAYR

CLARKS SUMMIT

Some guarantee

Editor: You must remember President Obama's comments on the Affordable Care Act. After all, he must have repeated them over 20 times - as late as the 2012 campaign. "If you like your health care plan you can keep it. Period." He also said many times if you like your doctor or your hospital you can keep them. No asterisk. He guaranteed it.

Now we find that it is not true. Millions of Americans will lose their plans and doctors on Jan. 1. The liberal spin is that these plans were not plans at all - not up to the standards we deem necessary. It doesn't matter that your new plan may cost more and you won't save the promised $2,500 per family - these plans are much better for you. It's only going to affect 5 percent of the population (hope you're not one of them). It would be ridiculous to claim these facts were not known beforehand.

When do words count? Perhaps lying about eavesdropping on a foreign minister is OK or, less certain, lying about an Oval Office sex scandal. Not telling the truth to the American people about their health care merely to get an unpopular bill passed is inexcusable. The sad part is that after dismantling America's health care insurance system, the best prognosis is that 31 million people will still remain uninsured.

SANDY GRAHAM

LAKEVILLE, WAYNE COUNTY

Eye on ball

Editor: The president didn't know anything about Benghazi.

He had no idea what the NSA was up to.

He did not know about the IRS targeting conservative groups. He had to read about Fast and Furious in the media to find out about it.

He did not know that the health care insurance website was not ready.

But when Jason Collins, the NBA player, announced that he was gay, he knew all about that. Nice. What a great leader.

MICHAEL J. BARROWS

WAVERLY

Promise organs

Editor: In the past month my family has lost two people very near and dear to us due to complications from liver failure.

Both were in their 50s and fought courageous battles for years. For most of their struggles, they were deemed too healthy for a transplant. By the time they could be tested for a transplant, they were too sick to survive the surgery.

What saddened me the most was finding out the difficulty in getting on the transplant list is largely due to the lack of donors. Thanks to a mother who believed strongly in organ donation, I check the box every time I renew my driver's license. In honor of all the loved ones lost to organ failure, and those facing transplant surgeries, I encourage everyone else to do the same.

GARY ZELLERS

SCRANTON

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